Orwell’s Down and Out: LIVE in Paris

Friday 28 September 2018 @ 14:00 - 20:00

Performance 14:00 – 18:00 | Policy Debate 18:30 – 20:00

In the second instalment of our Down and Out: Live project, The Orwell Foundation is bringing George Orwell’s classic book to Paris after its sell-out performance in London in June (which you can watch here).

The immersive performance, which asks searching questions about homelessness today, will take place at La Générale in Paris on 28th September, 2018. The performance will be in both French and English. This is a free performance and you can register by following the link below. Entry will also be available on the door (subject to capacity) and audience members may stay for some or all of the event.

Orwell wrote Down and Out in Paris and London as a result of his own experiences sleeping rough and working on what would now be called zero-hours contracts in hotel kitchens. The dramatised reading draws on other pieces of writing by Orwell, including his diaries, The Spike and A Clergyman’s Daughter. Modern stories from the streets will be woven into the original text, alongside poems specially commissioned from three contemporary poets. Readers will include writers, activists, politicians, and young people who have been homeless.

The original performance took place in London on 6th June as part of UCL’s Festival of Culture and will be repeated at La Générale in Paris on 28th September from 4pm until 8pm.

The events will be accompanied by new poetic responses in English and French and a short film will be produced by the award-winning film-maker Edwin Mingard.

The performance will be live streamed and viewing events will be arranged in libraries and community hubs across the UK, with both the London and Paris performances being recorded in full and being made publicly available.